Ischemic preconditioning attenuates portal venous plasma concentrations of purines following warm liver ischemia in man

Background/Aims: Degradation of adenine nucleotides to adenosine has been suggested to play a critical role in ischemic preconditioning (IPC). Thus, we questioned in patients undergoing partial hepatectomy whether (i) IPC will increase plasma purine catabolites and whether (ii) formation of purines in response to vascular clamping (Pringle maneuver) can be attenuated by prior IPC. Methods: 75 patients were randomly assigned to three groups: group I underwent hepatectomy without vascular clamping; group II was subjected to the Pringle maneuver during resection, and group III was preconditioned (10 min ischemia and 10 min reperfusion) prior to the Pringle maneuver for resection. Central, portal venous and arterial plasma concentrations of adenosine, inosine, hypoxanthine and xanthine were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: Duration of the Pringle maneuver did not differ between patients with or without IPC. Surgery without vascular clamping had only a minor effect on plasma purine transiently increased. After the Pringle maneuver alone, purine plasma concentrations were most increased. This strong rise in plasma purines caused by the Pringle maneuver, however, was significantly attenuated by IPC. When portal venous minus arterial concentration difference was calculated for inosine or hypoxanthine, the respective differences became positive in patients subjected to the Pringle maneuver and were completely prevented by preconditioning. Conclusion: These data demonstrate that (i) IPC increases formation of adenosine, and that (ii) the unwanted degradation of adenine nucleotides to purines caused by the Pringle maneuver can be attenuated by IPC. Because IPC also induces a decrease of portal venous minus arterial purine plasma concentration differences, IPC might possibly decrease disturbances in the energy metabolism in the intestine as well. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

Comparing the TiOblast and Osseospeed surfaces. Histomorphometric and histological analysis in humans

The aim of the present study was to compare two implant surfaces, the TiOblast (Astra Tech) surface, manufactured by blasting the surface and already present in literature and the Osseospeed (Astra Tech) surface, manufactured by blasting and treating the surface with fluoride ions and recently launched onto the market with the modified surfaces of the latest generation. This study is part of a more extensive research project whose protocol required the insertion of 10 couples of implants; thus in the present discussion partial data are being taken into consideration, with an eye at collecting more data in the future, regarding both microscopy and histomorphometric histological analysis on 5 couples of implants. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the modified surfaces of the latest generation can guarantee a greater osseointegration both from a qualitative and quantitative level compared to the surfaces presently used and that they may represent the first example of "bioactivity", that is, an active interaction with the processes of new bone formation and tissue healing

Long-Term Isoflurane Therapy for Refractory Bronchospasm Associated with Herpes Simplex Pneumonia in a Heart Transplant Patient

A 47-year-old man with a history of heart transplant was admitted after severe traumatic brain injury and seizures. During mechanical ventilation, the patient developed bronchospasm that severely compromised respiratory function that led to cardiac arrest. After resuscitation, application of isoflurane through the Anaesthetic Conserving Device (AnaConDa) in the ICU successfully treated bronchospasm, provided adequate sedation, and enabled appropriate ventilation and diagnostic bronchoscopy. A subsequent bronchoalveolar lavage revealed a high amount of Herpes simplex DNA. Herpes simplex pneumonia was diagnosed and treated with acyclovir. Isoflurane treatment was applied for twelve days total without side effects on renal and cerebral function. The patient recovered quickly after the termination of sedation. At discharge, he was fully awake without focal neurological deficiency and his long-term outcome was excellent. This case demonstrates that isoflurane is a treatment option in life-threatening cases of bronchospasm and a safe option for long-term sedation

LCA assessment related to the evolution of the earthquake performance of a strategic structure

Several buildings and infrastructures, located in urban areas, are identified as strategic in the case of an earthquake event. This is the case of a water treatment plant which is currently built in Genoa, Italy, and which has been assessed for the scope of this research. Since the structure has been designed following the seismic design prescriptions, this work aims to provide a preliminary assessment of how the degradation mechanisms do affect its earthquake response. To this purpose, both chloride attack and carbonation are taken into account as main degradation mechanisms. Moreover, due to the importance of the water treatment plant, to develop a realistic Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis, the earthquake resistance of the structure and its evolution over time as a function of the aforesaid degradation mechanisms, have been accounted as Serviceability Limit State to estimate the frequency of the maintenance activities needed in a timeframe of 100 years

Stellar evolution through the ages: period variations in galactic RRab stars as derived from the GEOS database and TAROT telescopes

The theory of stellar evolution can be more closely tested if we have the opportunity to measure new quantities. Nowadays, observations of galactic RR Lyr stars are available on a time baseline exceeding 100 years. Therefore, we can exploit the possibility of investigating period changes, continuing the pioneering work started by V. P. Tsesevich in 1969. We collected the available times of maximum brightness of the galactic RR Lyr stars in the GEOS RR Lyr database. Moreover, we also started new observational projects, including surveys with automated telescopes, to characterise the O-C diagrams better. The database we built has proved to be a very powerful tool for tracing the period variations through the ages. We analyzed 123 stars showing a clear O-C pattern (constant, parabolic or erratic) by means of different least-squares methods. Clear evidence of period increases or decreases at constant rates has been found, suggesting evolutionary effects. The median values are beta=+0.14 day/Myr for the 27 stars showing a period increase and beta=-0.20 day/Myr for the 21 stars showing a period decrease. The large number of RR Lyr stars showing a period decrease (i.e., blueward evolution) is a new and intriguing result. There is an excess of RR Lyr stars showing large, positive $\beta$ values. Moreover, the observed beta values are slightly larger than those predicted by theoretical models.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures; to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics; full resolution version available at http://dbrr.ast.obs-mip.fr/tarot/publis/publis.htm

Prognostic role of chromosome 9P deletion in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma

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First Experiences with Navigated Radio-Guided Surgery Using Freehand SPECT

Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in melanoma using one-dimensional gamma probes is a standard of care worldwide. Reports on the performance are claimed by most groups to successfully detect the SLNs during the surgical procedure in almost 100% of the patients. In clinical practice, however, several issues remain which are usually not addressed: the difficulty of intraoperative detection of deeply located nodes, SLN detection in obese patients or in the groin and the impossibility to make a scan of the entire wound after SLN resection to avoid false negative testing for eventually remaining SLNs. Materials and Methods: The concept behind freehand SPECT is to combine a gamma probe as used for conventional radio-guided surgery with a tracking system as used in neurosurgical navigation. From this combination and a proper algorithm framework the 3D reconstruction of radioactivity distributions and displaying these intraoperatively is possible. Conclusion: In summary, the feasibility of freehand SPECT could be shown and provides an image-guided SLNB and a truly minimally invasive and optimized surgical procedure